CUNA: Obama Penning Cyber Security Executive Order

The Obama Administration is developing an Executive Order that would give the Department of Homeland Security a greater role in coordinating issues related to cyber security, CUNA Deputy General Counsel Mary Dunn said Monday during a press call. That announcement comes after three large credit unions were the victims of distributed denial of service attacks in late January.

The order, which was first circulated among regulators last fall, isn’t expected to specifically address credit unions or financial institutions, Dunn said. In fact, she said, thanks to Y2K, the financial services industry is ahead of other sectors in their ability to head off cyber risks.

The Treasury’s Financial Service Sector Coordinating Council, which became official in 2003 but was originally formed to address Y2K issues, is now addressing cyber security, she said. In December, CUNA staffers attended a Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council (FSSCC) meeting to discuss coordination efforts between federal government entities and the financial services sector on critical infrastructure, cyber-security, and crisis management.

Given media coverage of cyber attacks and risk to U.S. firms, Dunn said the issue is one the administration feels it needs to address. Dunn said CUNA received a call Friday from a credit union member concerned that she couldn’t access her credit union’s website.

“She immediately thought it was a cyber-security issue,” Dunn said. “As it turns out, it was not that or even a problem with the credit union’s website, but it illustrates that the issue is on the forefront of people’s minds.”